1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to the preparation of food products in large quantities and more particularly relates to wet or dry apparatus and methods for roasting nut, bean and seed-like products.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the past, small legumes and similar nut, bean and seed-like products, such as peanuts have been roasted in a process involving a single large, cylindrical cage or basket rotatable within an oven. The peanuts are deposited in large quantities in the cage, but usually only so much that the cage is only partially full. The cage is then rotated slowly as a roasting temperature on the order of 300 to 600 degrees Fahrenheit is maintained in the oven. Substances may be applied to the product, such as by spraying salt dextrose, molasses and the like onto the product while it is roasting, or perhaps while it is cooling.
The products are contained in the cage in such large quantities as they are roasting, that some of the products constantly remain toward the center of the cylindrical cage, while other products are situate toward the outer edges of the product pile. Obviously, the products at the outer extremities of the pile will receive more heat, and thus become more roasted than those toward the center of the pile, having a lesser surface exposed directly to the heat. Similarly, substances which may be applied onto the products in the cage or while the products are cooling, will coat or be applied more thickly on those products towards the outer extremities of the pile and closer to the spray than on those products at the center of the pile.
Another method for roasting such products requires conveyor means. Usually in a dry environment, the products are placed on a moving belt which travels a predetermined time through an oven. The timing of the travel and the temperature of the oven environment are coordinated to accomplish dry roasting. Additives may be sprayed or otherwise deposited on the product while it is situate on the belt.
Roasting ovens in the past have cooked the legumes. Still, it is desired to roast legumes in an apparatus and in a process which will produce a quantity of product having as uniform a degree of roasting or cooking as possible. Moreover, it is greatly desired, when roasting or cooking a large quantity of product where substances are to be added or applied, to produce a quantity of the product having as uniform an application of the added substance as is possible.